Menaḥem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994) was the seventh and seemingly last Rebbe of the Habad-Lubavitch dynasty. Marked by conflicting tendencies, Schneerson was a radical messianic visionary who promoted a conservative political agenda, a reclusive contemplative who built a hasidic sect into an international movement, and a man dedicated to the exposition of mysteries who nevertheless harbored many secrets. Schneerson astutely masked views that might be deemed heterodox by the canons of orthodoxy while engineering a fundamentalist ideology that could subvert traditional gender hierarchy, the halakhic distinction between permissible and forbidden, and the social-anthropological division between Jew and Gentile. While most literature on the Rebbe focuses on whether or not he identified with the role of Messiah, Elliot R. Wolfson, a leading scholar of Jewish mysticism and the phenomenology of religious experience, concentrates instead on Schneerson's apocalyptic sensibility and his promotion of a mystical consciousness that undermines all discrimination. For Schneerson, the ploy of secrecy is crucial to the dissemination of the messianic secret. To be enlightened messianically is to be delivered from all conceptual limitations, even the very notion of becoming emancipated from limitation. The ultimate liberation, or true and complete redemption, fuses the believer into an infinite essence beyond all duality, even the duality of being emancipated and not emancipated--an emancipation, in other words, that emancipates one from the bind of emancipation. At its deepest level, Schneerson's eschatological orientation discerned that a spiritual master, if he be true, must dispose of the mask of mastery. Situating Habad's thought within the evolution of kabbalistic mysticism, the history of Western philosophy, and Mahayana Buddhism, Wolfson articulates Schneerson's rich theology and profound philosophy, concentrating on the nature of apophatic embodiment, semiotic materiality, hypernomian transvaluation, nondifferentiated alterity, and atemporal temporality.

"An Open Secret traces the history of philanthropist Robert Allerton and his companion, John Wyatt Gregg, whom Allerton formally adopted as his son in 1960, after decades of living together. Yet why did these two men, who appear to be a gay couple from our view today, choose to project a father/son relationship? Syrett argues that in a period of both rising homosexual openness and social disapproval, the men had to find an alternative public logic for their situation. Whether or not Allerton and Gregg had sex with each other, they were undoubtedly a queer union: two high-society men who did not affirm traditional notions of partnership or couplehood"--

Darío Ezcurra is one of the thousands of Argentinians unlucky enough to be 'disappeared' by the military government-murdered by the local chief of police with the complicity of his friends and neighbours. Twenty years later, Fefe returns to the town where Darío met his fate and attempts to discover how the community let such a crime happen. Lies, excuses and evasion ensue-desperate attempts to deny the guilty secret of which the whole community, even Fefe himself, is afraid.

'Throughout my early life I felt that there was another possibility which, once realised, would transform all and everything. One day that possibility became a reality, and it was simple and ordinary, magnificent and revolutionary. It is the open secret that reveals itself in every part of our lives. But realisation does not emerge through our attempts to change our lives, it comes as a direct rediscovery of who it is that lives. The Open Secret is a singular and radical work which speaks of the fundamental liberation that is absolutely beyond effort, path, process or belief.'

'The story of MI5's transformation - is fascinating. So, too is Rimington's account of her rise in what was very definitely a man's world.' Guardian ____________________________ The eye-opening memoir from the first female Director-General of MI5 Stella Rimington worked for MI5 between 1969 and 1996, one of the most turbulent and dramatic periods in global history. Working in all the main fields of the Service's responsibilities - counter-subversion, counter-espionage and counter-terrorism - she became successively Director of all three branches, and finally Director-General of MI5 in 1992. She was the first woman to hold the post and the first Director-General whose name was publicly announced on appointment. In Open Secret, she continues her work of opening up elements of the work of our security services to public scrutiny, revealing the surprising culture of MI5 and shedding light on some of the most fascinating events in 20th century history from the ultimate insider viewpoint. ____________________________ Stella Rimington is also the author of the novels At Risk and Secret Asset.

Natural theology, in the view of many, is in crisis. In this long-awaited book, Alister McGrath sets out a new vision for natural theology, re-establishing its legitimacy and utility. A timely and innovative resource on natural theology: the exploration of knowledge of God as it is observed through nature Written by internationally regarded theologian and author of numerous bestselling books, Alister McGrath Develops an intellectually rigorous vision of natural theology as a point of convergence between the Christian faith, the arts and literature, and the natural sciences, opening up important possibilities for dialogue and cross-fertilization Treats natural theology as a cultural phenomenon, broader than Christianity itself yet always possessing a distinctively Christian embodiment Explores topics including beauty, goodness, truth, and the theological imagination; how investigating nature gives rise to both theological and scientific theories; the idea of a distinctively Christian approach to nature; and how natural theology can function as a bridge between Christianity and other faiths

These quatrains and odes reveal a most human and accessible side of the great poet and mystic. They are the personal records of one man's encounter with the Divine.